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Published by the 
SUB-TARGET GUN CO. 

Boston 
New York London 



Copyrighted 1907 



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Oxford -Print Boston 



Why School Boys Should 
Be Taught to Shoot ? 

BY 

GENERAL GEORGE W. WINGATE 

President New York Public Schools Athletic League 



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N these days of crowded cities 
and strenuous work all forms 
of exercise are valuable to 
growing boys. Shooting is an 
interesting open air sport, in 
which the skill attained con- 
stitutes a valuable possession through life. It 
also involves more physical exercise than is 
generally appreciated. In particular, it de- 
velops coolness of nerve under excitement, 
powers of observation and rapid judgment, 
which are important mental qualities. 

Its great benefit, however, is not so much to 
the boys who become expert shots, large though 
that is, as to their State and country. We 
should never forget that the existence of this re- 
public was maintained and its liberties won by 
the skill in shooting shown by our ancestors 
against the Indians and the British. In New 
England, New York, Virginia, the Carolinas, 
and later in Kentucky, the first settlers held 



iheir land and their lives by their skill as rifle- 
men. At Lexington, Bunker Hill and upon 
many other occasions during the Revolution, and 
later at New Orleans, this disciplined skill over- 
came the veterans of the British Army — ^who 
were far superior in every military sense to the 
hasty levies opposed to them — except that they 
were bad shots. 

This skill so impressed the world that even 
now the popular idea in many countries and 
among many of our own people is that America 
is a nation of marksmen. I regret to say that 
this is now very, very far from being the case; that 
while modern rifles have increased enormously 
in range and power, making it much more diffi- 
cult to handle them to the best advantage than 
those used by our forefathers, the ordinary 
young American knows nothing about their use, 
much less in fact than the ordinary emigrant 
who is likely to have served two or more years 
in the army of his native country. 

Here in the cities, there are no opportuni- 
ties for practice. In the country, there is little 
desire. There are many who have shot guns 
but rifles are rare. Thus, when last Spring I 
happened to be in a small place in Florida and 
wanted to borrow a rifle to shoot an alligator, 
I found that while every man had a shot gun 
there was not a rifle in the place. I have also 
found this to be the case in many other local- 



ities. If there is any rifle shooting, it is always 
at short distances and generally with small rifles, 
never with the military weapon. 

The regular army of the country is absurd- 
ly small and is not kept full. At present, it is 
60,000 strong and is diminishing daily, as the 
pay is too small to induce enlistments. With 
nominally 20,000 coast artillery — one third 
what is needed to man our forts, and 1 0,000 
in the Philippines, we have an available force 
of not 20,000 men. In fact, few know how 
hard it was to scrape together the 5 000 men that 
were recently sent to Cuba. In time of war the 
country must, therefore, in the future as in the 
past, look for its defence to hasty levies of vol- 
unteers. While not a military nation, we are a 
warlike and patriotic one. When the country 
calls, the best blood of our youth, both rich and 
poor, responds without hesitation. We can, as 
we did in the Civil War and in the Spanish 
War, rapidly assemble all the men we want. 
We can in a few months teach them consider- 
able drill and a liitle discipline — but^ <we can- 
not teach them to shoot* The result is that 
they are and necessarily must be poor troops, as 
compared with soldiers of other countries. 

The Spanish War was worth more than it 
cost, because it pointed out that the United 
States was living in a fool's paradise. We had 
all the resources of a rich, intelligent and ener- 



getic country. We had all the men and all the 
money we could use. The experiences of the 
Civil War were recent in the memories of 
many. Yet General Shafter told me that when 
the 7 1 St New York reported to him at Tampa, 
to form part of his expedition to Cuba, after 
being in a camp of instruction for some two 
months he was horrified to find that it contained 
400 men who had never fired a shot from their 
rifles. 

The volunteers who were first sent to the 
Philippines were equally unskilled with the ex- 
ception of those from Tennessee, and from a 
few Western sections, who had used the rifle 
from boyhood. The same was also the case 
with most of the regiments later organized as 
United States Volunteers, who were carefully 
instructed in everything but the one fundamen- 
tal necessity of a soldier, the ability to shoot 
straight. 

It is indeed fortunate that these volunteers 
were only required to meet the disorganized 
soldiers of Spain and the wretchedly armed 
and worse shooting Filipinos. 

Let us look at another and different instance 
which is fresh in our minds. The Boers were 
a handful of farmers — Grandfathers and small 
boys served together. They had no uniforms, 
no drill and less discipline. But they were 
trained riflemen, hunters from childhood, like 



Jackson's Tennesseans at New Orleans. The 
result was that they withstood an overwhelm- 
ing force of drilled and disciplined British troops 
(who were not at all bad shots) for many 
months, and were only conquered at a terrible 
expenditure of life and treasure. Yet while the 
Boers changed the military axiom that " One 
man behind a breastwork can keep off three 
outside," to one to six, and sometimes to one 
to ten, the Japanese stormed similar works with 
equal forces — because the Russians who held 
them had not been taught to shoot. The 
reader of General Ian Hamilton's "Scrap Book 
of a Staff Officer " who so vividly depicts the 
Japanese-Russian Campaign, cannot but be 
impressed by his constant references to how 
much more formidable opponents the Boers 
would have been than the Russians were. 

There are many theories as to how the mil- 
itary strength of this country can be enhanced. 
They are mostly theories and will always remain 
so. Experience shows that in time of peace 
we will not increase our army; we will not 
create a reserve worthy of the name, and we 
will not make our National Guard into any- 
thing much different from the small force that 
it is today^ 

Some urge the introduction of military drill 
in the schools. This would be a good thing if 
it could be carried out. But I regret to say 



that it cannot. Beginning in 1 895 , 1 spent three 
years on the Staff of the Commander-in-Chief 
of the G. A. R. as Special Aide in charge of 
this matter, and therefore speak from experience. 
During this period, the G. A. R. exerted all its 
great influence in every State in favor of the 
plan. It v^as favorably received by the press 
and the public, and the prospects at one time 
seemed promising for its success. But the dif- 
ficulties of procuring instructors, drill halls, arms, 
and above all, uniforms (which, while indispens- 
able, are claimed by many educators to create 
an invidious distinction between poor boys who 
cannot afford to buy them and those who can) 
proved insurmountable, and the movement 
dwindled and died. 

There is, however, a way in which we can 
create a force of skilled riflemen from whom we 
will obtain volunteers in time of war, and whose 
skill will make up for their want of experience 
in military drill and discipline, and that is, by 
teaching our High School boys at least, to 
shoot with our military rifle. This is what is 
being extensively done abroad. Lord Roberts, 
the Commander-in-Chief of the British Army, 
has been so impressed with the errors of the 
Boer War and the neccessity of preparing the 
English people to assist the British Army in 
defending Great Britain, that he is exerting his 
great influence to create rifle clubs and to have the 

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British school boys taught to shoot, with the re- 
sult that hundreds of schools have taken up the 
matter. France is doing the same. Switzer- 
land has no regular army, but depends for her 
defence on her riflemen. Though poor, she 
spends annually large amounts in developing 
them, both in and out of the schools. Out 
of a population of but three million — less than 
that of the City of New York in 1 904, she 
had 3656 rifle clubs with a membership of 
2 1 8,8 1 5 , who shot twenty-one million car- 
tridges with the army rifle. 

It is not a novel, difi&cult, nor an expensive 
thing, to teach our boys to shoot. It is being 
done with great success in eleven of the great 
High Schools of New York City. This is 
largely owing to the use of the Sub-Target 
Gun Machine, which enables instruction to be 
given and practice had in an ordinary room, 
and saves the cost of ammunition, which other- 
wise would be almost prohibitory. This ma- 
chine consists of an upright standard having at 
the top a horizontal rod in front of which is 
placed a target like a visiting card. To this 
is attached an ordinary Krag military rifle, 
which, while capable of being freely moved, 
is so adjusted that when aim is taken with the 
rifle at a target across the room, and the trigger 
is pulled, the rod punches a hole in the minia- 
ture target in the exact relative place where the 



target aimed at would have been hit if the gun 
had been loaded. Practice with it is rapid, 
costs nothing, and involves no danger to any 
one. The instructor who stands alongside of 
the boy who is shooting is also able to follow 
the movement of the rod on the miniature tar- 
get to see the manner in which he is aiming, 
and to correct his defects in holding, which it 
is impossible to do when a loaded gun is being 
used. 

The young men attending the High 
Schools, some 7000 in number, are from four- 
teen to eighteen years of age, and are the 
"pick" of the Elementary Schools, as the great 
majority attending the latter are forced to go to 
work as soon as they graduate, which is usually 
at the age of fourteen. They are deeply inter- 
ested in learning to shoot, and being stalwart 
young fellows, with sound nerves and at an age 
when they learn easily, are displaying wonderful 
skill. In fact, better than that usually displayed 
by the members of the National Guard Regi- 
ments, which are provided with similar ma- 
chines. To avoid the tendency to concentrate 
too much effort upon the development of a 
crack team in each school, the League 
gives a "Marksman's Badge," similar to 
that which is given in the Army and in the 
National Guard. The qualification score for 
this badge was fixed at first at 4 1 out of a pos- 

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sible 50. The number who won it, however, 
was so great that it was raised to 42, afterwards 
to 44, and 1907 to 45, shot standing, target 
assimilated to 200 yards. This is a very high 
score, and yet this year the badge was won by 
1 75 boys, thirty being sharpshooters, with a full 
score of ten consecutive bull's-eyes ! 

The League holds annual contests between 
the different High Schools with the Sub-Tar- 
get Gun Machine for the "Whitney Trophy,'* 
a reproduction in bronze of Darley's "Battle 
of Lexington." In 1907 it was competed for 
by fifteen teams from ten High Schools, five 
being second teams. Manual Training High 
School (Brooklyn) was the winner, with a score 
of 237 out of a possible 250, fired from the 
shoulder. The closeness of the contest is shown 
by the fact that Morris High School followed 
with 235, Commercial with 233 and High 
School of Commerce and Curtis tied with 232 
each. 

The number of boys attending the High 
Schools is so great as to make it out of the 
question for the League to undertake to give 
them all practice in shooting with cartridges. 

In order, however, to impress upon them 
that the skill which they may be able to attain 
with the Sub-Target Gun Machine will en- 
able them to shoot well with a bullet in the 
open, the League has encouraged matches be- 

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Iween teams from the different schools in the 
rifle galleries of the different regimental armories. 
It also holds an annual contest at Creedmoor 
for individual and team shooting at 100 and 
400 yards — five shots at each distance in each 
match. These were first held in 1906, six 
High Schools participating. 

The matches in 1907 received a great im- 
petus from the fact that President Roosevelt, 
who is Honorary Vice-President of the 
League and strongly in favor of its work, and 
particularly of its efforts to teach the school 
boys to shoot, authorized the announcement 
that he would write a personal letter of con- 
gratulation and commendation to the boy certi- 
fied by the League to have displayed the highest 
proficiency in shooting during the year. This 
letter from the President of the United States 
was naturally valued by the boys more highly 
than any other prize that could be offered, and 
great emulation for its possession was excited 
in the schools. 

The matches were shot at Creedmoor on 
June 29, 1 907, and were limited to those boys 
who had previously won the Marksmanship 
Badge. There were 12 teams shooting and 
over 100 competitors. Although but three 
opportunities were afforded for practice before 
the matches were shot, the scores showed 
remarkable skill. Morris High won with 209 

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out of 250, an average of 41.8 out of 50, 
although the weather conditions were bad. 
Commercial made 208 and Boys High 205* 

Ambrose Scharfenberg, of the Manual 
Training High School, Brooklyn, won the 
President's letter, making a full score in the 
Whitney Match (with the Sub-Target Gun 
Machine) ; 63 out of a possible 70 in the In- 
dividual Match, on the range, and 45 points 
out of 50 in the Team Match, his aggregate 
score being 158 for the three competitions. 

The boys when they came on the range 
had, of course, no knowledge of the effect of 
wind and atmosphere, which is necessary to 
know to be a good shot in the field, particu- 
larly at the longer ranges, and which can only 
be acquired by experience in actual shooting. 
They were, however, greatly helped by the 
coaching which was extended to them by a 
number of the best shots in the National Guard. 
They had in the previous practice with the 
Sub-Target Gun Machine learned to sight their 
rifles accurately, and to hold them steadily, and 
this was nine-tenths of the battle. They were, 
therefore, quick to follow the suggestions of 
their coaches, and very rapidly learned to 
handle their rifles with the coolness of veterans. 

The benefit which would result to the coun- 
try if the system of the New York High 
Schools should become general is so highly ap- 

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predated by military men that at the meeting 
at Washington in January last of the National 
Board for the Promotion of Rifle Practice a 
report describing the New York method was 
directed to be printed and copies were sent to 
the military and educational authorities of all the 
States. This was eminently wise. 

If this system should be extended to the 
other High Schools of the country, as is rapidly 
being done, there should be at least 20,000 
young men out of those who graduate from 
these schools every year who will be effective 
shots with a military rifle, a skill they will never 
lose. This, in the course of time, will give the 
country a corps of trained marksmen among the 
masses of our people, which will make our vol- 
unteers, when called upon, efficient soldiers, 
and therefore will constitute the greatest guar- 
antee for national peace. 

The true way to insure peace is for the 
country to be prepared to protect itself in case 
of war, and the only way this country will ever 
become prepared for war is to have the people 
as a whole trained in the use of the rifle, as 
their forefathers were at the time of the Colonial 
and Revolutionary Wars, so that as citizen sol- 
diers they will be formidable to their opponents. 

The following extracts from President 
Roosevelt's letter to Ambrose Scharfenberg, the 
best shot of the year, graphically states the ques- 

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tion, and should carry more weight than any- 
thing that I can write; 

Oyster Bay. N. Y., July 13, 1907. 

My Dear Young Friend: 

I heartily congratulate you upon being de- 
clared by The Public Schools Athletic League 
to stand first in rifle shooting among all the boys 
of the High Schools of New York City who 
have tried during the last year. * * * * 

Many a grown man who regards himself as 
a crack rifle shot would be proud of such a 
score. Your skill is a credit to you, and also 
to your principal, your teachers and to all con- 
nected with the Manual Training School which 
you attend, and I congratulate them all. * * * * 

I am especially glad of what The Public 
Schools Athletic League has done in establish- 
ing instruction in rifle shooting. The United 
States has a very small standing army. In time 
of war it must depend for defence upon hasty 
levies of volunteers, and it is a prime necessity 
that the volunteer should already know how to 
shoot if he is to be of value as a soldier. In no 
modern war would it be possible effectively to 
train men to shoot during the brief period of 
preparation before the army takes the field. 
In consequence the training must come in ad- 
vance and the graduates from our schools and 
colleges should be thus trained so as to be good 

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shots with the military rifle. When so trained 
they constitute a great addition to our na- 
tional strength and great assurance for the 
peace of the country. 

With all good wishes, believe me, 
Sincerely yours, 

(Signed) Theodore Roosevelt. 

All well-wishers for the future prosperity 
of the United States should unite in doing every- 
thing in their power to secure the introduction 
throughout the schools of the country of this 
system of instructing our youth in rifle shooting, 
which is so strongly commended by President 
Roosevelt. 

President Public Schools Athletic League, 

New York City. 



11-07-10 Form 17 
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